Ok, there is a hotel in western MD that was a quiet, quaint little place located in a state park. It was affiliated with a major hotel chain, I can't remember which, but not directly labelled as such.

My wife (gf at the time) and I would go there once every 3 months or so to relax for the weekend, sit on the beach, take a hike, swim in a pool, and lounge in the hot tub, and look at the birds in the aviary rehabilitation area. Food was always pretty meh, but that wasn't why we were there.

It was about $70 a night for all this.

They got bought by a casino, which isn't a surprise really. They were never packed and I'm sure were losing money.

Last time we stayed there, for my birthday in January, we had an awful experience. The room had flies and mites in it. The pool was closed for construction of the casino area, the massage parlor double booked us over someone else, the food experience was awful, about 45 minutes between each course/ sight of the waiter, etc. We, I feel, reasonably complained to the management and received the gag gift of a free night stay.

We tried to use it this weekend. We booked a stay, drove two hours to get there, ended up hitting smooth traffic and got there an hour early. We sat on the beach. The trashy beach with wrappers floating in the water and trash strewn through out the sand. It was busy, people are slobs. It happens.

We go inside to get our room. There is a line out the door, 45 minutes we stood in line. We looked around the lobby, the scenic fountain was replaced by a corvette for auction. The art on the wall was replaced by gold and glitter, the lounge was replaced by slots.

45 minutes to be told that our complimentary night was not valid any more. Not with out the original letter from the manager. We argued with the people for 15 minutes about how ridiculous that was. they offered us $100 off the room, so we'd only have to pay $70. $70, the going rate less than a year ago, was the $100 off price now. It took 4 people to get together to offer us that price.

So, a waste of 2 hours drive. We decided to at least hike the trail before driving home. The aviary was now a parking lot for 18 wheelers and dumpsters for construction. The nature trail had fallen into decay and over growth. The water was scummy. It was awful.

We drove home defeated by the man. Another memory lost to corporate greed.

~"And Daddy, won't you take me back to Mulenberg County, down by the green river, where paradise lay."

Seriously, though, that sucks. =(_________________"No, but evil is still being --Is having reason-- Being reasonable! Mousie understands? Is always being reason. Is punishing world for not being... Like in head. Is always reason. World should be different, is reason."
-Ed, from Digger

- eure, so sorry about hubby - but 'fired' or 'let go'? i really hope not fired, because that generally means for cause, and that makes it harder to find another job. i mention this mostly because i was warned, when i was looking for jobs, not to say i was fired when i was let go for reasons other than my performance, because it sounds way worse.

- Yorick, dear one, i'm glad your friend has you, at least, but it does sound like you both need to call the help lines Usagi mentioned. your friend, especially - her life is certainly worth something, and especially to those kids.

- and DeD....what can i say, faced with the horrors of "progress"? i hope you guys can find another spot that makes you as happy as the old one did._________________aka: neverscared!

- eure, so sorry about hubby - but 'fired' or 'let go'? i really hope not fired, because that generally means for cause, and that makes it harder to find another job. i mention this mostly because i was warned, when i was looking for jobs, not to say i was fired when i was let go for reasons other than my performance, because it sounds way worse.

He was fired. It wasn't for anything completely horrible, but something he failed to report nonetheless._________________Eureka00: "Reminding you of your addictions" since 1982.

It sucks, but we've been talking a lot about the positives of being out of that job. It was a really stressful job, ungodly long hours/overtime (60 hrs a week was a norm), plus he would have an on-call phone every other weekend and several days during the week that woke me up constantly in the middle of the night. It was a hard job for me to be married to. He would get home completely worn out. He often missed supper and too many times our daughter had even already gone to bed. I'm glad to know that he's not going to miss out on her life so much anymore.

We're going to make it just fine, but it was a bit shocking that first day._________________Eureka00: "Reminding you of your addictions" since 1982.

Thank you! We appreciate the support. So far he's been helping out a ton around the house and helping with our daughter as well as calling around for letters of recommendation, fixing up his resume, signing up for unemployment, etc. It's so weird to hear him say, "I'll do that." instead of, "I wish I could help, but I'm going to be at work awhile longer." Or "I just need to sit down for awhile."_________________Eureka00: "Reminding you of your addictions" since 1982.

well, it definitely sounds like being out of that job is not entirely bad. here's hoping he gets one that lets him lead a more normal life (with sleep and everything!)_________________aka: neverscared!

- Yorick, dear one, i'm glad your friend has you, at least, but it does sound like you both need to call the help lines Usagi mentioned. your friend, especially - her life is certainly worth something, and especially to those kids.

All I can do is give her the information and hope she does something with it. Which I already did. I don't always get to find out what's up. I know I don't have answers for her problems but she keeps asking me for them._________________Currently experiencing: not summer.

This is the OFFICIAL Lumpy Space Princess costume on from Spirit Halloween:

I don't.. I...

I admit, I don't even watch Adventure time (I need to! But. SO MUCH TO CATCH UP ON), but doesn't that... isn't that, um. Kind of the exact opposite of the character? Of even the THEME of the character?

Damnit why do all female store costumes have to be Sexy "Insert theme here"?_________________"No, but evil is still being --Is having reason-- Being reasonable! Mousie understands? Is always being reason. Is punishing world for not being... Like in head. Is always reason. World should be different, is reason."
-Ed, from Digger

Weirdly, it's the Animal (Muppets) one that has so far torqued me off the most. Maybe because the guy version looks pretty good, and the girl version just sort of makes me go "OH COME FUCKING ON."_________________"No, but evil is still being --Is having reason-- Being reasonable! Mousie understands? Is always being reason. Is punishing world for not being... Like in head. Is always reason. World should be different, is reason."
-Ed, from Digger